World Press Photo of the Year 2010
South African photographer Jodi Bieber wins premier award

The international jury of the 54th annual World Press Photo Contest has
selected a picture by Jodi Bieber from South Africa as the World Press Photo of
the Year 2010.

The portrait of Bibi Aisha was also awarded First prize in the category
Portraits Singles in this year's contest. It was shot for Time and was featured
on the cover of the 9 August issue of the magazine.

Her winning picture shows Bibi Aisha, an 18-year-old woman from Oruzgan
province in Afghanistan, who fled back to her family home from her husband's
house, complaining of violent treatment. The Taliban arrived one night, demanding
Bibi be handed over to face justice. After a Taliban commander pronounced his
verdict, Bibi's brother-in-law held her down and her husband sliced off her
ears and then cut off her nose. Bibi was abandoned, but later rescued by aid
workers and the American military. After time in a women's refuge in Kabul, she
was taken to America, where she received counseling and reconstructive surgery.
Bibi Aisha now lives in the US.

Jodi Bieber has previously won eight World Press Photo awards and is only the second
South African photographer to win the highest honor in the contest. She is a
former participant of the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass where she
returned as a master in 2010. Bieber is represented by Institute for Artist
Management and Goodman Gallery.

THE CONCLUSION OF THE JURYJury chair David Burnett said: 'This could become one of those pictures -
and we have maybe just ten in our lifetime - where if somebody says "you
know, that picture of a girl...", you know exactly which one they're
talking about.'

Juror Ruth Eichhorn commented: 'It's an incredibly strong image. It sends out
an enormously powerful message to the world, about the 50% of the population
that are women, so many of whom still live in miserable conditions, suffering
violence. It is strong because the woman looks so dignified, iconic.'

Juror Vince Aletti said: 'It's a terrific picture, a different picture, a
frightening picture. It's so much about not just this particular woman, but the
state of women in the world.'

Juror Aidan Sullivan said: 'Part of what the World Press Photo contest does is
to take pictures to a wider audience, an audience that is going to ask why? And
this photo makes people ask "What on earth...?" "What's going
on...?" "What has happened...?" For me, this was the picture
that asked the most important questions.'

SPECIAL MENTIONFollowing the judging of the contest, the jury decided to name a Special
Mention to a 12-picture series of photographsmade by the miners trapped for 69
days inside the San José mine in Chile, 700 meters underground, before they
were rescued on 13 October.

The pictures show the difficult conditions inside the mine and feature one of
the men, Edison Peña, a keen runner who kept up his exercises underground.
Writer Dan McDougall and photographer Adam Patterson spent weeks with the Peñas
family before he was rescued and began corresponding with him by letter.
McDougall and Patterson were able to send Peña a pair of running shoes and a
small digital camera down into the mine shaft where he was trapped. Panos
Pictures is distributing the pictures on behalf of Edison Peña.

Jury member Abir Abdullah said: 'This recognition opens up the possibility of
showing citizen journalism, when professional photographers have not had the
opportunity to be some place, but because of technological development, someone
can record it... it brings us into a new era that challenges professionals, and
this is a good example of a photo from a place where a photojournalist could
not possibly have been.'

Jury member Vince Aletti said: 'We are able to see the conditions...the images
respond to our curiosity in a vivid way.'

The jury considers a visual document for a Special Mention when it has played
an essential role in the news reporting of the year worldwide and could not
have been made by a professional photographer.

AWARDS DAYS AND 2011 EXHIBITION
Jodi Bieber, the photographer of the World Press Photo of the Year 2010, will
receive her award during an awards ceremony in Amsterdam on Saturday, 7 May
2011. The award also carries a cash prize of €10,000. In addition, Canon will
donate a Canon EOS Digital SLR Camera and lens kit to Jodi Bieber. Maurice
Lacroix, a Swiss watch manufacturer, is the official watch partner of the World
Press Photo Awards Ceremony.